Acetylene-generator.



PATBNTBD JULY sq, 1907. J. o. KING. AGETYLBNE GENERATOR. APPLICATION FILED HAR. 3l, 1905.

4 SHEETS-SHEET l INVENTOR;

WITNESSES:

By Attorneys, @1m/:Iii @mw (L52) 4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

iNvENTOR; l? By Afomeys, A rLG/Qm fr@ WITNESSES: va 71W /fmf/ V/ PATE-TED JULY 30, 1907.

No. 861,734. ,A

J. c. KING.

-.AGETYMJM GENERATOR.

APPLIUATIOH FILED HAB. 31. 1905.

A SHEETS-SHEET 3.

INVENTOR i Y WITNEssEsQ y ttafneys,

No. 861.734. PTBNTED JULY 30, 1907.

J. C. KING.

AGBTYLBNB GENERATOR. APPLICATION FILED 15m31.190s.

4 SHEETS-SHEET '4.

INVENTOR';

313155555; /a- /ffn-mv =By A/zomeys, mam... CE2,

UNITED STATES PATENT oEEroE.

JESSE CRITZ KINGOF ST. CATHARINES, ONTARIO, CANADA, ASS IGNOR TO WILLSONCARBIDE COMPANY, LIMITED, OF ST. CATHARINES, ONTARIO, CANADA, A CORPORATION OF oNTArno.

Specification of Letters Patent.

ACETYLENE-GENERATOR:

Patented July 30, 1907.

Application filed lil'll 31, 1905. Serial No. 258,000.

To all whom. it may concern: Be it known that I, JESSE Cnr'rz-Krrzs, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing in St. Catharines, in the Province oi Ontario, Dominion of Canada, have in.

vented certain new and useful Improvements in Acetylene-Gencrators, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates -to apparatus for generating acetylene gas, arid aims to provide certain improv ments therein. K

The invention is especially directed to a device for utilizing granulated or powdered calcium carbid in the manufacture of acetylene gai', although it is susceptible of use for other purposes. Prior attempts to utilize carbid of calcium in a finely subdivided form have not been successful, due principally to the tendency of the fine carbid when fed to the generating chamber to reina-in temporarily upon the surface of the water, forming floating masses or islands. When such an island of fine carbid is finally submerged, the evolution of gas takes p lace very quickly, with the result in many cases that the escape pipe is not'able at once to carry off the gas from the generatdr. Many serious explosions have resulted from this cause. According to my invention, I provide a generator having a means for preventing the formation or' such floating masses oi carbid, which preferably acts to maintain the water in constant circulation, so that the upper part of lthe water into which the carbid is fed is continuously replaced by a fresh supply from beneath, so that the water is maintained in a cool condition, and the gas is delivered out of the apparatus at a much lower temperature than heretofore. My invention includes certain other features of improvement, which will be hereinafter more fully described.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate one form of my invention^,-Figure 1 is a front gvation, partly in section, of a generator adapted for nual operation; Fig. 2 is a side elevation; Fig. 3 is a plan; Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken approximately on the line 4--4 in Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings, A is a chamber which is 'designed to contain calcium carbid, or other gasforming material, iu a finely divided condition, such Achamber being provided with a gas tight door or cover u, and having at its lower end a hopper b, the lower part of which leads to the feeding device B. The latter is designed to feed the carbid slowly, and in small quantities, to the generating chamber C, which contains a suitable supply of water, which, reacting with the carbid evolves acetylene gas in the well-known manner. The feeding device B, as shown, comprises a. screw conveyor, the screw c of which is mounted to tur'n in a bring d, on the front of the device, a sprocket being in turn rotated by a sprocket f, to which it is.

connected by a chain belt g, as best seen in Fig. 2. Considerable difficulty has been heretofore met in the operation of such feeding means, due to the fact that dust or lime from the carbid often formed at the mouth of the conveyor, resulting in the clogging of the latter, so that it was unable to feed properly.

According to my present invention, I provide means for cleaning the feed opening whenever necessary, so that. the action of the device is rendered more reliable.

As shown, this device consists of an angular bladeor scraper h (Fig. 4), which is fixed at the lower end of a shaft i, mounted immediately above the feed opening of the conveyer, screw c, said scraper extending past the end of the screw into the generating chamber. The shaft i is provided at its upper end with a hand wheel j, by which the scraper or blade h can be moved around the feed opening, thus effectually loosening any deposit at this point, and permitting the free action of the conveyor screw c.

The carbid, as it is fed by the conypyer, drops into the generating chamber C, and by reason of its finely divided condition tends to float upon the surface of the. water contained in the latter until it-is sufficiently wet to submerge. As before stated, there is also a tendency for it to form itself into floating masses or islands, which, when they finally sink beneath the surface of the` water, are quickly acted upon by the latter because of their fine condition, with the result that a sudden and excessive evolution of gas takes place, and in many instances a dangerously high pressure is generated. According to my invention, I aim to avoid this disadvantage, and to this end I provide a means for preventing the formation of such islands,

and causing the carbid as soon as it falls from the feeding device to be submerged, whereby the generation of gas proceeds evenly without substantial variations in pressure. The means which I prefer to employ for this purpose is an agitator or paddle wheel D, which is mounted within the chamber C, its shaft extending outwardly to the front of the device, and being there provided with a crank handle l: or other means for rotating it'. The effect of the paddle wheel is to sub'- merge the particles of carbid immediately after they reach the surface oi the water, thus preventing the formation of aggregations of carbid, and to maintain, the water ina constant circulation, and, to some extent, in a condition of agitation. Should any islandsl be partially formed, they will be immediately broke up by the action of the paddle. wheel or by the movement of the water, so that all danger o f the submersion of a considerable quantity of carbid at one time is avoided. In generators of this type, as heretofore from tht.` ttpptntttu ts el :t high tempexttute. In many instances, tht heat evelvt-d is sutlit-ient utter :t shurt werking to puiymvt'ize the gus. Hy prndttcing :t tnnstatut, circulation et utter within the genetutiug chsm her the t-ntire had)l et' tv-fttt-r is tnttiutttint-d ist sultstnntittlll thesame tetnperntttre; und. as tht lit-:tt is diffused thrtvughuut the It-hele hndy, tt ntuch grt-titer quantity is viven eff hy the walls et' the generator thun is the cast: when the ht-:tt is localized in the upptr part ttt' the cit-tether. v

E thtusuttl water .st-:tl ch-.tnthcr opt-u :tt its tup. :1nd trunuet'ttd with the generator C ttt its lower ptu't. a pattitieu l.'s't.patt-.ttiu,r thttwtt :it their upper parts, as hest seen in Fig. 4 The gas is led fi'e'm the generating Achtunhcr C h v u pipe m ttt. thtl upper pant et tht chumher(` which muy lend directly tu tht service pipt u: gttsntnetet, hut, according tu my invention, I prefer tu pass the gus through u scrubbing tilt-victl hefnrt lending it to the point ei use.. l

The t'nrnt ttf scrubbing device which I prefer tu vutploy is that shown ut I", Fig. 4. This, in its pret' ed ferm., consists t|t` 2t chnmher er receptacle, inte which the gus is led tht'uugh at pipe n, connected tu the pipe m hy tt tee-titting u. The lower t-nd uf the pipe n is cuntinucd downwardly tu a peint near the hnttent et the sct'uhher, :tuil is there provided with u detit't'ttn p which distrihtts the gaa throughout the water in the set-uhhcr, the gus passing upwardly until it nit-ets tt performed diaphragm q which mure finely divides it` su that it is thnrttughly cumtniu'gled with the witter, and deposits any tintdust Ut' t-ther nnttters which it. muy curry, thtl latter stttlingy in 'the huttnm ni tht: scruhht-t tn the forni uf u sediment1 The put'itit'd und further cnulvtl gas pn s. out through the pip(l r tu the ,service pipe er gttsmnt-ttr. The st uhhtr is `supplied with watt-r in any suituhltmanner. In the mmstruetien shown, the tee-tilting o is pt'uvidt-d :it its ttppt-t entl with :t screw plut,r s, which designed te htt-tmnvt'd su that the supply ot' water may hrint't'ttduttd into thedevice through the pipe n. A suitathltgugtmuy he used tt tit-termine the lit-igh.' uf thtwttter, tu' u ptt cuekl may he employed, :1s shnwn iu Fig. 2, which is lett opt-n during?r illing until thtwttteruvt-rtltnvs thruugh thtcuck, when thtl supply is t-ut ntf.' similtu truck It is pruvidcd at the huttnm nf thtst-ruhht-r. hy menus nl' whiclrtht'. used walter muy he dmwn uut ni thttlt'vittt'. Thteruhht'ris prt-tt-rtthly provided with n deut' r, :ts shnwn in Fig. 2, hy nte-uns ut' which tlninterim' et' the device is rt'ndert-d tt et sthle.

The generatur ist pretertthly prnvjdetl with :t vulvt-d uutlet u: at it: Side, through which the sludge muy he drawn out uf the apparatus, und is alst preteruhly prnvided with u. huttetn vulve u t'ur :t lik purpuse. ,'ln render the intt-rittrnt' the f rt-uentturtxtct sthltt'nr ele-.tn` ing; eut the refuse. er l'ur ether purfvteses, it is provided xttztritslmtt-tmtwitltuitenlargede|n1ning:,wltthisclest-d' hy :t suiltthle tt-mr Il', tts hest .st-en iu Fitz. Tn fucili` Lute the retnevttl et' the sludge trlint thtuppttrutus, l pret'ertthly prnvide: stirring putltlltl r ut Ille hellem el the ztppurtttus. whi-h is muunted ut. the ltmer end uf :t Ishut't Il', thtlatter living turned hy. u lmtttl heel e :tt the tup el' the device,

In upertttiuztV tho clnuuher is lilletl with trurhitl, und water is intrudut-ed intu the ehutnher li until it reaches: tht level vrfv iu chunthtr`- l') and t. 'lhtscruhher is tillctl te the level I1-41,1 gl-ig'. tt. :tud thtemuk lntndle l; is turned tt rtttute the screw r et thtfeetlcr l5: The t-nrhid is' thereby fed iuttt the generA :ttingY rltttnlht-r in stnnll quantities, falling upuu lltLl surface et the water und being immedi-.ttely suhmerged h v the :tt'titvn ut' the paddle wheel l). The pressure caused hy the evttlutiun uf the gals' will depress the level et' the witter in chtuuhcr C slightly hclttw that in channhcr E. AS the carl itl is in subdivided iurtu, tite rent:- tion nece 'sary tu evolve the gus tttkes plutes principally immediately after the t' trhid is submerged, se that the upper purtinn t` the wafer in tht: ehtttnhtrr C tends tu llt-trente quite het, but by the action el' tite puddle wheel D, the heut is distributed substantially thrttughuut the entire hndy tf "titer, and n eunsideruhle purtiun is conducted :1w-.ty hy the walls et' the generzttur. Tht.'

eutnp-.trtttively enel gas, then passing threugh the scruhher, is puritiedgsntl passes ofi tu tite service pipe ut' gusttttletur. 4

I hzive tluntl in practice that, the gener-awr herein described nut only ntttkes prttctit-txhle the use tlf tinely divided t'ttrhid. hut delivers the "tts in u much hetter cnntlitien than these generttturs which ure dt use with t-ufhid in large pieces er lumps. Thel gus reaches the burners in :t przteticully pure statte. prudut't-s the ntxinmm light t'tlieieney, und t-tutses much less trnuhle hy rt-.tsun et' catrhttnizutiun ut the huruer tips than with pre-rinus aztntntturs In npcrtttitm, the cvulutiun et mts proceeds withnut snhstuntiul vurirtt inns in pressure, se that :til danger ttt explusinn is nvuidetl.

It will he understttttd thut I tlt net wish te he limited tu the details et' tztmstrut-tieu shewn, its nniny changes cnn he neuh: therein wit heut departing t'runt the invetttitm. Uther devices muy he substituted, fur insuttt'e, t'ttr the paddle wheel illustrated, :tud such devices, :is well s thtl't-etliug nteeletnism muy he driven t't'nm :luy suittthle stfurt'e et pnwt-r insttrtttl tzt' hy lntnd, us shttwn. 'lhe upt'rntinu et tht' device muy, it desired, he cuntrulled h v :tn v .suitzthle gnvt-,rner zurtuattet! hy increuse nf pressure in the gusnmeter ur utht-rwi -I ttther t'hunges :mty ht: nntdtwhile still ret-.liningy sume uratll nf tht:zttlvttutugesoi my invention,

I cluint :1s my invention thtt'ulluwing..` lt-lined nevel tet-,tures suhstnntittly ltert-inheture specified, uunttly: 

